The Ethan Bennett Memorial Scholarship Fund: A Living Legacy
A Fumd at the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana
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Ethan Bennett Memorial Scholarship Fund
c/o Community Foundation of Southern Indiana
4104 Charlestown Rd.
New Albany, IN 47150
ETHAN'S STORY
My name is Kelley Bennett, and on September 11, 2012 my life was forever changed. My husband and I received a call that our 19-year old son was missing. There is nothing more terrifying than receiving such a call.
After a three-month mentally and physically exhaustive search, our son was found. He had been found at the bottom of a thousand foot ravine.
He had missed a 90-degree turn on a dark, unlit road. Some people comforted us by telling us that we at least had closure. But as many parents that have lost children know, there is no closure. You move on because life dictates it, not because you want it to move on. Forced to move on, we have tried to make something positive come from this tragic event in our life.
One of the very first positives was setting up a college scholarship in our son’s name at Silver Creek High School in Sellersburg, IN.
We discovered in the process that his scholarship is the only endowed scholarship for his high school. Our scholarship is administered through the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana, which is a 501c(3).
We worked directly with Linda Speed, Director and CEO, to set up his scholarship. The scholarship enables the student to attend any college in the state of Indiana.In March 2013 we held our first benefit for the scholarship. We had over 600 people attend and we raised over $20,000.00 in one night. We presented our scholarship in the amount of $500.00 to our first senior at the 2014 Benefit.
We have received donations from so many generous people throughout the United States. This generosity was overwhelming in that so many people only knew Ethan’s story and had not known him or us personally.
We will strive to make our loss a positive gain for students at Silver Creek High School for many years.